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Leonard Nimoy

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I wouldn't necessarily say genocide is out of character for the Dominion--what they did to the Teplan people would have ended up becoming genocide if the Federation hadn't intervened with a cure. But, I do think that they would rather put a subject race under their feet than destroy them entirely.

While humans CAN be pack animals to an extent, when you look at the way aliens are portrayed in the Trekiverse, humans do seem "volatile" when compared to some of the other races, in terms of being unpredictable...in a lot of ways, Bajorans are the closest comparison. The unpredictability is what freaked out the Dominion, as is the human hatred of conquest (whereas, say, the pacifist Mizarians have never resisted when their world is conquered). Humanity likely would've become either suicidally rebellious, or done something like what they actually did, just sooner. So, the Dominion THOUGHT they could pacify humanity this way.

What's been introduced to the human race, through the Graft, goes to a higher level than humanity's normal social instincts as we know them. It is true that modern humans are vulnerable to groupthink, bystander effect, and other such things.

But in comparison, an unaltered human might seem to have something like Asperger's Syndrome, to someone who DID have the Graft--to be missing another level of tone, body language, and hierarchical instinct that goes beyond standard humanity. (And that's another reason I think you might get resistance from the young, when it comes to "curing" themselves: it might feel like blinding themselves. To the older people, while their reconfigured brains can handle the input from a physical standpoint, most of them do not want it. Some might choose not to accept a cure, though, if their children won't.)

You're always welcome, of course. Your stuff is usually the best around.

I wouldn't necessarily say genocide is out of character for the Dominion--what they did to the Teplan people would have ended up becoming genocide if the Federation hadn't intervened with a cure. But, I do think that they would rather put a subject race under their feet than destroy them entirely.

I don't wanna say they aren't easily spurred to genocide, but WYLB felt out of character because it felt less like a cold, methodical extermination done for a reason, than a psychological breakdown on the part of a Founder on death's door. But that's just my interpretation.

While humans CAN be pack animals to an extent, when you look at the way aliens are portrayed in the Trekiverse, humans do seem "volatile" when compared to some of the other races, in terms of being unpredictable...in a lot of ways, Bajorans are the closest comparison. The unpredictability is what freaked out the Dominion, as is the human hatred of conquest (whereas, say, the pacifist Mizarians have never resisted when their world is conquered). Humanity likely would've become either suicidally rebellious, or done something like what they actually did, just sooner. So, the Dominion THOUGHT they could pacify humanity this way.

Hey, it sorta worked.

If it weren't for the Borg and the need for human inspiration, and hence a need for humans in sensitive industrial compounds, it might have worked totally. In a way, the Borg saved humanity. That's gotta be awkward.

But in comparison, an unaltered human might seem to have something like Asperger's Syndrome, to someone who DID have the Graft--to be missing another level of tone, body language, and hierarchical instinct that goes beyond standard humanity. (And that's another reason I think you might get resistance from the young, when it comes to "curing" themselves: it might feel like blinding themselves. To the older people, while their reconfigured brains can handle the input from a physical standpoint, most of them do not want it. Some might choose not to accept a cure, though, if their children won't.)

Yep. I'd suspect humanity, born or raised post-Graft, would be in this for the long haul.

Humanity may well have been exterminated if not for the Borg threat, definitely. Keeping humanity around was almost like keeping a pit bull, in the Dominion's minds: needed because an even stronger enemy was out there, but could turn on them with even the slightest "owner" mistreatment, hence the need for what they thought would keep humanity just peaceful enough.

But now, without the Dominion, the Confederation (which as you might expect, encompasses areas both formerly of the Federation AND of the Cardassian Union--and adds yet another layer of complication to the Graft issue) has to hope the war with 8472 keeps going and that neither combatant turns on them next.

About the industrial complexes...the Maricopa Research Center--and many other places like it throughout the Dominion's human-colonized holdings--was a place I see as very much like the place where the Manhattan Project was. I had actually debated using White Sands, too, or maybe even Trinity, but it seemed like that would yank people right out of the story.

Even if humans hadn't had access to industrial facilities...I still suspect rebellion would have eventually come, just as it did for the Cardassians in the prime universe--and that arrogance would eventually end up being the Dominion's downfall.

I really am not sure about the fate of humanity (Cardassiohumanity?) after this story. I just think there's no way it would be a cut-and-dried answer.

Even if humans hadn't had access to industrial facilities...I still suspect rebellion would have eventually come, just as it did for the Cardassians in the prime universe--and that arrogance would eventually end up being the Dominion's downfall.

Oh, that reminds me, that was a minor issue with the story--Cardassians still given a place in the Dominion hierarchy. It always seemed to me that the CU was permitted to maintain its own ships and government and such only as transition, and only so long as it was useful to the Dominion. It was necessary once contact with the greater Dominion in the GQ was cut off, but a Cardassian military and subsidiary leadership role always appeared to be a stop-gap, until such time as the war was over and contact restored.

Maybe with victory and such their estimation of the worth of Cardassians went up. I mean, they did promise the CU the Alpha Quadrant, I just always sort of assumed they were lying.

About the industrial complexes...the Maricopa Research Center--and many other places like it throughout the Dominion's human-colonized holdings--was a place I see as very much like the place where the Manhattan Project was. I had actually debated using White Sands, too, or maybe even Trinity, but it seemed like that would yank people right out of the story.

I dunno, I think it could've worked.

I really am not sure about the fate of humanity (Cardassiohumanity?) after this story.

Even if humans hadn't had access to industrial facilities...I still suspect rebellion would have eventually come, just as it did for the Cardassians in the prime universe--and that arrogance would eventually end up being the Dominion's downfall.

Oh, that reminds me, that was a minor issue with the story--Cardassians still given a place in the Dominion hierarchy. It always seemed to me that the CU was permitted to maintain its own ships and government and such only as transition, and only so long as it was useful to the Dominion. It was necessary once contact with the greater Dominion in the GQ was cut off, but a Cardassian military and subsidiary leadership role always appeared to be a stop-gap, until such time as the war was over and contact restored.

Maybe with victory and such their estimation of the worth of Cardassians went up. I mean, they did promise the CU the Alpha Quadrant, I just always sort of assumed they were lying.

In my story, the Dominion mistakenly thought that by patting the Cardassians on the head and saying "good dog," they'd keep them happy and willing to serve the Dominion forever--give them an illusion of SOMETHING that belongs to them, and they'll be loyal pets forever. Letting the Cardassians think they were above humanity on the hierarchy preserved that illusion while keeping them still in a subordinate position. The Cardassians didn't get the Alpha Quadrant so much as they got humanity to look after (under close Dominion supervision, of course).

The Dominion just didn't count on what it would mean to make the two races so similar in manner. Remember what I said about how an unaltered human would look to one who had the Graft? That's how humanity had always looked to the Cardassians pre-war. Some of Garak's comments about the way Bashir looked at the world seemed to hint in that direction. When the two species started to deal with each other after the alteration, I think the feeling would've been a really strange one, like seeing yourself in entirely different skin. The Dominion never really thought through the potential effects of that unseen kinship.

I really am not sure about the fate of humanity (Cardassiohumanity?) after this story.